1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method of transmitting buffer size information and, more particularly, to a method of precisely transmitting buffer size information without an error.
2. Description of the Related Art
A base station needs to be aware of information about a buffer status of a mobile station in order to transmit data to the mobile station properly. The base station therefore continuously monitors the buffer status of the mobile station. Information about the buffer status includes information about a buffer size of the mobile station. If the base station knows the mobile station's buffer size, the base station can transmit data to the mobile station more effectively. For example, if the mobile station has a small buffer size, the base station may delay transmission of data until the buffer size increases. When the buffer size increases, the base station can transmit the data.
Accordingly, a mobile station continuously transmits buffer size information to the base station. One example of transmitting buffer size information to a base station is the full coding method. The full coding method codes information of the exact (precise) buffer size. In the full coding method, if a buffer has a maximum buffer size of 15,000 bytes, 14 bits are required to transmit the buffer size information. The full coding method requires a comparatively large number of bits to transmit the buffer size information.
Another example of transmitting data to a base station is the logarithmic method. The logarithmic method indicates a buffer size of “A×10BB” according to a first bit string A and a second bit string B. In this instance, the first bit string A indicates a base and the second bit string B indicates an index. However, according to the logarithmic method, as the buffer size increases, the difference between the actual buffer size and a coded buffer size also increases and thus errors become significant. Accordingly, a method of transmitting buffer size information precisely without the introduction of errors is needed.